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New to D&D, where to start?

I'm looking to get into D&D (for the 1st time) and have a nice little group of 5 or 6 people to play with every Friday. After hearing some D&D 4e hate as well as a 5e coming at some point and the 3.5 is the best! I just don't know what to buy!

I'm not going to wait for 5e so its 3.5 or 4e. I'm aware a lot more people treat 4e as underwhelming and not as good as 3.5 because its like WoW and is a step back not forward for the franchise and many people do not even think of it as being a D&D game but seeing as I've not played any D&D wood all that bother me? I like the idea of simple rules as my group is not super geeky and I would like less DM 'homework' for myself as I'm also studying.

I've seen a lot of the 4e books going cheap and have been offered about 10 3.5 books (including the core books) for only £65 ($75) so i can get hold of everything i need whichever one i decide to go with

Also i like the idea of using tiles (tho I'll probably use a white board). can someone explain if tiles are new just for 4e or if and how they got introduced before then?

ok thanks so much in advance for any help you can offer, any and all details or opinions are all most welcome. however if you want to rage about 4e thats fine but please explain you reasons thanks!

EDIT: should i be considering pathfinder? is that just updated 3.5 but cheeper? i hear its the most popular RPG at the moment, is it compatable? use tiles? thanks!!

As for edition - don't bother right now - just find a group and THEN make a decision. It would SUCK to buy 3.5/Pathfinder/4.0/whatever and then find out everyone nearby is playing a different edition.

To be honest, edition doesn't really matter all that much. It's the STORY behind the game that makes it good or bad.

I've never used tiles - I use a battle map (square grid) and minis, but small coins work just as well, as do small pebbles, bottle-caps or anything else you can think of. I've used rolls of coins for armies of bad-guys - AND good guys (heads versus tails!), and it's worked out well. I've known people that have used hundreds of dollars (pounds) of minis to do the same thing... but like I said, it's the STORY that drives a good (or bad) game.

Find a group at a local gaming store and learn how they play - and plan from there.

For ease of playing and learning the system (whichever edition you end up with) - I recommend starting with a fighter. Find a good role model (movie or book character) and model a fighter after that person. This will help give you an idea of what you may need to do. What skills and such do you need to build a Conan, or Mad Martigan, or Gimli, or Rob Roy or Steven Segal (all of his characters are the same...), or whatever? Just, for all that is holy, choose a DIFFERENT NAME... sorry, it's a pet peeve of most experienced gamers to see a new person that has a character named, "Conan" or "Aragorn"... You can LOOK like them, act like them and FIGHT like them - just don't share their name!!

And welcome to the land of the geeks!! We're a pretty accepting bunch - just don't steal our Doritos or Mountain Dew, and we'll get along fine!!

Our group uses the 2E version of AD&D along with minis, tiles, and a white board. I will also echo that you should decide as a group, which version you want to try. Still, cost and availability of the books may help sway the group's decission. Another thing to keep in mind is that there are sometimes "optional" rules that are included in the core books. When just starting out, you can not use the optional rules and once the group is comfortable with the basics, slowly start adding the optional stuff one at a time.

I'm in that group. I run a different 2e from cplmac. Rules are simple, DM centered and easy to make stuff up on the fly with no statblock. I have done entire dungeons as

AC 7 HP 12 to hit AC 0 21

as the entry for monsters, and even if I don't write it down, I can just make it up. No feats, none of that, and STORY is key.

I got core rules on CD-rom for 70.00 years ago, and it still goes for about that. All the 2e books you'll ever need plus character gen and management.

4e essentials is simple if you go that way. 3.5 is a lot to handle. 4e is mostly combat challenges and takes a while to learn if you are used to the old ways, but WOTC has a decent online char gen software if you subscribe for a few bucks a month.

IMO I'd try 2nd edition AD&D, it's easy and cheap, there are a ton of books out there, start out with the core rules, players and DM guides. 3.5 is also pretty good, 4th IMO has a steep learning curve since combat takes forever. Check out Ebay

You have a unique chance to start a group without the baggage of previous editions. I envy you.

2nd Ed AD&D is a good option, if you are looking for books on the cheap. But any time you can get a load of books for under $10 a piece, it's a deal in my book. If the offer still stands, I would buy the 3.5 books from your contact.

That said, I agree 100% with Malruhn. The rules you use are secondary (at best) to the fun and survivability of your game. The story and character development are your keys to success (IMO of course).